Lhаsа hаd аlrеady еntеrеd wintеr, with thiсk layers оf snоw covеring the mountаin реаks. Тоurists were grаdually dwindling, and many out-оf-tоwn merсhants hаd bеgun рurсhasing Тibеtаn sреciаlties, preраring to rеturn home. Evеn so, the сity’s mornings rеmаinеd livеlу, with sоmе elderlу Тibetаns аrriving еarlу at thе Jоkhang Tеmрle, knеeling and bowing with rоpes tied аrоund thеir kneеs.
Last night, a grouр оf sрirited уоung сусlists hаd chесked intо the Dеji Inn. Full of enеrgy, thеу sеt off аgаin еаrly in the morning, thеir destination being the fоot of Mоunt Everеst. Aftеr thе cоmmotion, the inn returned to tranquility. Sunlight filtered evenly through the skylight, illuminating several aloe plants in the courtyard, which thrived with vitality.
The sweet tea in the pot had come to a boil, bubbling and steaming. At the table, Brother Long sat with his eyes closed as if asleep. The waitress, Ah Lan, walked over to turn off the heat, deftly pouring the sweet tea into a thermos. With a glance, she realized he wasn’t dozing—his lips were trembling as he recited scriptures.
"Brother Long, when are you heading back?" Ah Lan, also from Sichuan, had already bought her return ticket in advance.
Brother Long opened his eyes and replied kindly, "Oh, I’m heading to Yunnan first to check on a few inns."
"What about Master Ba? Is he staying in Yunnan for the New Year too?"
Brother Long had long heard from Hippo that Bayunye, after finishing the western Sichuan trip, had rushed straight to Golmud to join Diao Zhuo in climbing Yuzhu Peak.
"As for her, it’s hard to say this year." He patted his thigh and squinted up at the skylight.
After some time, the sound of an engine came from the entrance, followed by a figure who hadn’t fully stepped inside before eagerly calling out—"Haha! Old Squad Leader!!"
Only then did Brother Long open his eyes, smiling, his round face as benevolent as Maitreya Buddha. "Ah Teng! Welcome, welcome!"
The newcomer was dark and lean, likely a few years younger than Brother Long, with large, sharp, and shrewd eyes and a prominent knife scar at the corner of his eyebrow—clearly a man with stories. He was Brother Long’s comrade-in-arms, now running a freight company and often passing through Yunnan and Sichuan. They hadn’t seen each other in over a decade. This time, Ah Teng happened to be driving to Lhasa and coincidentally found Brother Long stationed at the Deji Inn.
The two had just embraced tightly when Ah Teng was pushed back by Brother Long’s belly, creating an awkward moment.
"Squad Leader, you’ve gained so much weight! If the female soldiers from the communications platoon back then saw you now, they’d sigh again about time being a butcher’s knife." Ah Teng sighed, chattering on about the old days for a while, then reached out and patted Brother Long’s shoulder. "About what you asked me to look into last time—I couldn’t find out anything. Let me treat you to drinks tonight to make up for it."
Brother Long was taken aback. "What do you mean—you couldn’t find out?"
"Ah, I tracked down over twenty guests who traveled with the Scorching Sun Caravan to Xinjiang a few years ago, but not a single one knew Ma He or Hippo. Or you could say, none of them had been on a trip led by Ma He. It’s strange—a few years ago, the Scorching Sun Caravan was just starting out, with only three to five drivers. Even now, there are only about eleven or twelve. How is it possible that I couldn’t find a single guest who had ridden with Ma He?" Ah Teng said gloomily. "Old Squad Leader, I failed the task you gave me!"
"No… that’s not it." Brother Long murmured, his fingers moving the prayer beads much faster. After a long pause, he slapped Ah Teng’s back. "I should be the one treating you to drinks!"Ah Teng was about to refuse when Brother Long said, "Ma He probably thought if I were to ask anyone, it would only be the people from the Scorching Sun Caravan, so he briefed them all thoroughly. But he never expected I'd turn to the guests instead. Ma He—he was never part of the Scorching Sun Caravan at all, there was no falling out or leaving, and he certainly never took guests on tours in Xinjiang!"
Ah Teng was confused, his face blank. "What's going on with this Ma He? Did he scam you out of money, boss?"
Brother Long laughed heartily. "Is my money that easy to cheat?"
Ah Teng slapped the table. "You're right! Getting money out of your pocket is harder than anything! You said years ago you'd treat everyone to a farewell meal, and how many years has it been? The group's long gone, but where's the meal?"
"Damn it, let's go drink right now!" Brother Long pulled him up and headed out.
Another comrade, Ge Mingliang, had once asked him why he suspected Hippo for no reason. In truth, Brother Long wasn't overly suspicious. Ever since Bayunye showed him and Hippo a few photos left behind by her elder sister, he had sent the pictures to a few trusted old comrades, asking them to secretly help locate the places in the images. However, because one of the photos was labeled as taken at Pearl Peak, his comrades were unaware of its existence. Yet, after that, Zhang Chenguang began appearing frequently at Pearl Peak, and Song Fan started traveling to various deserts, eventually dying unexpectedly in Badanjilin. This indicated that Hippo had leaked at least two of the photos.
Leaking the photos wasn't the main issue; what mattered was how coincidental it was that they ended up in the hands of the two witnesses from the car accident years ago. Just as Bayunye was about to catch up with Zhang Chenguang, he mysteriously disappeared—could this be related to Hippo? Moreover, Hippo had followed Bayunye to Qiangtang, Badanjilin, and Pearl Peak, almost immediately learning the locations where the photos were taken.
Why exactly was Hippo lurking among them? What was his relationship with Zhang Chenguang and Song Fan? Could it be that after the geological team was wiped out, there was still something they needed to cover up or search for?
That night, Brother Long got unusually drunk, vomiting everywhere, and he and Ah Teng were taken back to Deji Inn by the restaurant owner. When Ah Lan helped him back to his room, he grabbed her hand, breaking down in tears and crying uncontrollably, hoarsely shouting, "Why did you have to come see me! Why didn't you just go back properly!" frightening Ah Lan badly.
Early the next morning, the weather was rather gloomy. A blanket of white mist shrouded the peaks of the Pearl Mountain range, while the flat grasslands at the foot stretched all the way to the gravel beach of the campsite. Prayer flags fluttered in the wind, and in the distance, a few Tibetan wild asses could be seen grazing with their heads down.
Everyone followed the climbing coach on a hike to the glacier for ice climbing training. The equipment that hadn't been used during the West Great Beach drills—high mountain boots, ice axes, ice claws—could all be put to use this time, and most people were excited and eager to try. The mountain may seem close, but the journey is long; the seemingly low glacier was actually several kilometers from the campsite. Layer upon layer of gravel beaches rose and fell like waves, and after walking for what felt like ages, they finally reached the edge of the glacier.
The glacier appeared like sedimentary rock, layered one on top of another, each stratum mixed with brownish-black soil and gravel, giving it a grayish-black appearance, like a dirt wall that hadn't been cleaned in years. The gray-brown glacier was as hard as weathered rock, resembling layers of stacked ice shavings, with a narrow depression running through the middle—the path of meltwater flow.Huzi wasn't climbing the glacier, so he was leisurely pacing around, occasionally glancing back at his owner. Bayunye and Diao Zhuo, who had arrived earlier, let Huzi sniff the scent of hot chocolate, then buried a glove deliberately sprinkled with some hot chocolate in the snow, covering it with gravel, and asked Huzi to find it.
True to his rigorous training as a retired military dog, Huzi circled around a couple of times, pawed at the snow, confirmed the scent once more, and let out a bark asking for a reward. Lu Jianyì gave him a dog biscuit, while Bayunye dug out the glove from the snow and couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up.
"Don't celebrate too soon. The spilled drink from just now is very different from the one spilled half a year ago," Diao Zhuo reminded her rationally.
Bayunye shrugged it off. "Let's take a gamble. After all, neither of us is a dog, so we don't know if he thinks it's different too."
"What if he does think it's different?"
Bayunye clapped her hands. "Congratulations on being spiritually connected with him, indistinguishable from one another!"
This logic... was truly fucking flawless.
Half an hour later, the others arrived one after another, panting heavily. Some even showed symptoms of hypoglycemia, plopping down on the ground with pale lips and complaining of blurred vision. Bayunye happened to have a large stash of cocoa powder in her bag, so she opened several packets and handed out a cup to each person, mimicking Han Dasheng by saying it helped combat altitude reaction while replenishing energy.
Fu Yingtao sat on a large rock, gasping for breath, and waved away the hot cocoa Jiang Aohang offered him. The motion was so abrupt that some of it spilled, splashing onto his hand. He let out a sharp "Ah!" and Fu Xingyue quickly pulled out a tissue to wipe it for him. Embarrassed, Jiang Aohang poured the cocoa for Fu Xingyue and replaced it with hot water for Fu Yingtao, who didn't take it. "Let me catch my breath. You drink it, and after you finish, help me put on my ice claws."
"Sure thing." Jiang Aohang gulped it down and hurriedly helped him with the ice claws. Noticing Fu Yingtao still clutching his hand, he asked, "Dad, sorry, did it burn you?"
"It's fine," Fu Yingtao replied calmly, unusually good-tempered.
Diao Zhuo looked up at the glacier, over 20 meters high and almost perpendicular to the ground, and whispered to Bayunye, "The risk of climbing up there isn't low."
Bayunye glanced at Jiang Aohang and Fu Yingtao and agreed, "Falling from there wouldn't be a joke either."
However, climbing the glacier wasn't about rushing up all at once. Everyone had to follow the route planned by the climbing guides, ascending one by one with the help of climbing ropes. Each person had a safety lock on their belt, which could be hooked onto the rope to prevent an accidental fall. Even so, they couldn't let their guard down with Jiang Aohang.
Diao Zhuo exchanged a meaningful glance with his buddies, and they tacitly lined up. Between Fu Yingtao and Jiang Aohang, there were at least five people. Behind Fu Xingyue was Bayunye, followed by the Tangshan Sisters and Pulan.
Walking on flat ground with ice claws felt like teetering on stilts, but on the glacier, it was different. The ice claws dug into the ice, firmly gripping it, allowing them to push themselves upward. Most of them were climbing a glacier for the first time, feeling a mix of novelty and trepidation, so their progress was slow. The thin air at high altitude left them breathless after just a few steps.
The weather alternated between sunny and overcast. Pulan said this was a good sign that it would clear up tomorrow. However, the unpredictable weather and occasional gusts of wind made everyone climbing the ice feel uneasy.The first few people had already completed the glacier climbing training without incident. Seeing Fu Yingtao and Jiang Aohang safely reach the ground, Bayunye felt somewhat relieved. Gripping the rope, she carefully traversed the last knot, her movements more agile and precise than the others. By the time she reached the gentle ice slope, her pace had quickened significantly, allowing her to break into a light jog. As she neared the bottom, Diao Zhuo reached out to steady her. She paused, grinning, and said, "I feel like a cockroach clinging to a wall."
"If you're a cockroach, then I won't hold back." Diao Zhuo raised his foot as if to kick her.
A fierce gust of wind swept through, nearly knocking Bayunye off her feet. She looked up and saw the clouds moving rapidly across the sky, most of them dark and gloomy, even tinged with an ominous black. Diao Zhuo stopped joking and helped her down with one hand, saying, "It might snow again..."
Bayunye brushed off her jacket and pants, took off her hat, and wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead. Diao Zhuo watched her, his brow furrowing, and suddenly his expression turned grim.
"Huh?"
He pressed down on her head, then released his hand and muttered under his breath, "Damn."
Hippo laughed heartily. "Master Ba, your hair is standing on end, just like a cockroach's antennae!"
Hearing this, everyone turned to look at her. Sure enough, the shorter strands of her hair were standing straight up, pointing toward the sky like the bristling mane of a cartoon lion—both comical and slightly eerie. She frantically tried to smooth it down, but instead of lying flat, even more strands rose up.
"Oh no!" Bayunye cried out in alarm. The team erupted into chaos, and Diao Zhuo spun around, shouting, "Drop your ice axes!! Get rid of anything on you that's conductive!!"
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